Curses Unbroken
by HeidiBug731
Summary: Archie and Ruby fell in love in Storybrooke. But with the Dark Curse destroyed, they find themselves back in the Enchanted Forest where Archie is once again Jiminy Cricket. Ruby finds herself feeling very much alone with an intelligible insect for a significant other. With her only hope, the Blue Fairy, nowhere to be found, will true love find a way to bring them together again?
1. Chapter One

Arriving back in the Enchanted Forrest after living in Storybrooke for so long is strange and overwhelming. Gone is her modern clothing, and she's back in her red and cream frock, complete with basket. The material feels heavy and awkward from no longer being used to it. She spins around, trying to make sense of everything. She spots Granny and Snow and Charming … everyone is here. Everyone is safe. Regina succeeded in stopping Pan's curse.

And then Archie comes toward her, flying on tiny wings.

She almost screams, almost breaks down in tears as he alights in the form of a small bug on her shoulder. But she somehow manages to hold it all in. Everyone is disoriented. Everyone is confused. Breaking down would only make things worse. Archie the cricket is chirping in her ear, and she wishes he wouldn't because it's all just too much.

Aurora and Philip are nearby, and she tries to focus on that. She can't hear what they and Snow and Charming are talking about, but it doesn't matter. They are faces she hasn't seen in a long time, and she focuses on them, trying to forget momentarily that the love of her life is no longer beside her in the same capacity he had once been.

With Snow and Charming's castle having been destroyed by the curse, the decision is made to make the trek to Regina's castle. It's not too long of a journey, but the monotony of being on the road makes it impossible for her to distract herself from her thoughts, from the insect riding her shoulder.

She can't help but realize that as long as he's in this form, they will never talk, never touch, never kiss. He'll never hold her in his arms, never tell her he loves her. She has to remind herself to get a grip as her thoughts and emotions are about to overwhelm her. She cannot break down. She cannot.

All the things they used to do together … a million images pass through her mind of the two of them – walking, laughing, sitting on the couch, enjoying dinner, playing with Pongo, cashing each other around the apartment … things she will never be able to do with him again.

She brings a hand to her mouth and stifles a sob that causes her to stumble. Granny is there, and she takes her arm. "Are you all right, dear?"

She regains her balance and charges forward. "I'm fine." She can't focus on her own pain right now. Everyone is in pain. It wouldn't be right for her to call attention to herself.

Archie chirps in her ear. Perhaps he means to be encouraging or soothing, but all it does is cause her more grief in the fact that she just doesn't know what he's trying to say.

"Don't talk," she tells him, and he falls silent.

They keep walking, and she decides to focus on her feet, just watching herself take one step after another. It's hypnotizing in a way, and as long as she doesn't let her mind wonder she can lose herself in the thud of her feet. But it still doesn't distract her from the pain she feels. It's like a dull ache in her chest, pounding with each step she takes. It's helpful for hypnotic effect to follow the rhythm, but the pain doesn't leave.

It gets worse when the party has to stop because Regina has gone missing. Snow goes off to find her, and Ruby has nothing to focus on while everyone stands around waiting. A part of her just wants to sit down and cry, but she can't do it here, not in front of everyone. That wouldn't be right. So instead, she just leans against one of the horses and buries her face in the cloth of one of its saddle packs. She doesn't let the tears come, though. She has to be alone for that. But burring her face helps somewhat, like she can pretend she's alone even though she knows she isn't.

Jiminy chirps at her, and she actually shoos him away with her hand.

Granny comes by again to see if she's okay, and Ruby insists she'll be fine as long as they reach the castle. And it's true. She just needs a moment to herself and the opportunity to let out everything that's bottled up inside. She needs a space where she doesn't have to be strong and she can just let it all go. But here, on the road, isn't it.

At length, Regina and Snow reappear, and Ruby finds some brief distraction from her grief in the strangers they have brought with them. She listens, along with the rest of the traveling group, while Snow explains Robin Hood and his men just saved her and Regina from some strange winged creature. Danger has become a regular thing in everyone's lives recently, and while this new "monster" piques Ruby's interest, it's only for a moment before she's reminded of her pain again.

As the group continues on, Robin and his men along with them, she wonders if she's being self-centered. Snow and Charming just lost their daughter. Regina lost Henry. Belle and Neal lost Rumpelstiltskin. Everyone lost their previous lives they had built in Storybrooke. No one seems as broken down as her – no one except the Evil Queen, and Ruby doesn't want to be compared with her.

But then, Snow and Charming have to lead the group, have to keep moral up and make sure everyone is safe and rested. They have a task to perform, one that requires all of their attention and that can distract from the pain they undoubtedly carry at the loss of their daughter. And she'd heard Neal and Belle talking earlier. They seem to believe they can bring Rumple back, that he isn't gone for good. They have hope and a plan of action, something to keep them going and help push the pain aside. Everyone else … they might be confused and disoriented, but they haven't lost their loved ones.

The only person who seems to be experiencing the same pain as herself and doesn't have a distraction is Regina. And as she witnesses Snow trying to comfort her, Ruby realizes she shouldn't begrudge her own heartache. It _is_ legitimate, and it _does_ deserve time to run its course. That knowledge comforts her a little, but not much. The pain still hurts. The fact that Archie isn't with her - _can't _be with her - not in the same capacity he used to, still hurts. And the fact that she doesn't feel she can explain that pain to the insect riding on the horse beside her (because even if she did, she wouldn't understand his response and his chirps or gestures would offer no comfort - the complete opposite of how things used to be), hurts even more.

At length, cries are taken up as the group realizes they're close to their destination, and even Ruby feels her heart lighten. At last she'll have a place to rest, an opportunity to get away from everyone, to take care of her grief in privacy. But her relief is short lived as its discovered there's some kind of barrier keeping them from drawing close.

She nearly cries out in frustration, but she keeps it together as Robin offers them all shelter at his camp. She can't wait till this journey is finally over.

* * *

It's a relief when they finally make it to camp. She and Granny drop their supplies in a selected spot. And as Granny begins to lay out blankets, Ruby announces she is going to the river.

"With those winged monkeys flying around?!" Granny protests.

"Robin said it's just on the edge of camp," Ruby tells her, not slowing her pace. "I'll be fine." They had run into one of those winged monkeys on the road, and they certainly seemed dangerous, but she doesn't much care at the moment. She just needs to be alone.

But her wishes are not to be honored, it seems, because Jiminy joins her. She groans inwardly and tries to ignore him because she's torn between screaming and crying, and she just can't deal with him right now. She steps to the water's edge, quickly removes her clothing, and runs in.

The water is cool and refreshing, providing her with the relief she needs, however briefly. She drops her head under the water and wonders how long she can stay in that cool oblivion before resurfacing. She manages for a while, but has to come up eventually. And when she does, she finds the pain has been numbed a little, though it hasn't passed.

She's brought nothing to wash with, but she finds a smooth stone along the river bed and rubs it against her skin. A buzzing of wings causes her to look up, and she notices as Jiminy situates himself by the water's edge and dips his tiny "hands" in the water, starting his own washing. Ruby can remember the times when they'd bathed together and washed each other. This time is obviously very different from then. She wonders if he's thinking of those times now. Does he miss being a man, miss being able to touch her? Is he even thinking of her in that way? Can crickets have such thoughts?

She can remember her time as a wolf. Even though she was able to retain much of her human mind, the desires of the wolf were still present: she'd want to run, to howl, to taste raw meat. What did crickets want? Could Jiminy want her as a cricket in the same sense Archie could as a man?

Ruby shakes her head and turns away from him. Her thoughts are too depressing to think about, though she can't block them. They weigh on her heavily as though someone she loved has died. And in way, she realizes, that's exactly what has happened. Archie is no longer with her. He's Jiminy now, and she doesn't know how much of the man she knew and loved is present within that small insect. Part of her, though she hates to acknowledge it, doubts there's much there at all.

Eventually, she removes herself from the water and redresses. But instead of heading back into the camp, she skirts around it, heading into the woods. She can hear the sound of Jiminy's wings behind her.

"Don't follow me," she says without the turning around, and the sound of his wings drop off.

She just needs some space to herself, some quiet spot of her own. She goes into the woods far enough that she's sure no one can hear her, and she finally lets her frustrations go. She sits on a tree stump, puts her face in her hands, and sobs for the love of a man she's certain she has lost until she has no recollection of how long she's been there.

* * *

**This story is a mini sequel to "Our Inner Demons," which you can find on my profile.**


	2. Chapter Two

"Are you all right, my lady?" asks Robin as Ruby reenters camp.

She realizes she'd been too hasty in getting back. Her face is undoubtedly puffy and her eyes red, and Robin can see that. There's a lot of concern in his face.

She thinks about lying to him, telling him that she's fine. But what would be the point? He'd know she wasn't telling the truth. And she has no reason to lie to him anyway. He has, after all, been very generous in offering his camp to them.

But, in her grief, she isn't as clear as she could be. "My … boyfriend's a cricket," she says.

He's understandably confused, and he struggles for words. "I … understand how … that might be a problem," he manages.

She takes a breath to calm herself and tries to explain properly. "He used to be a man," she tells him. "But he made a wish to become a cricket – back before we met. When the Queen's Curse was cast, he became a man again – that's when we started dating. And now that we're back here, he's a cricket again."

"Ah," says Robin, and he seems to understand now. "That … does sound complicated." He studies her for a moment. "I have no idea how to help," he admits.

Ruby sighs and shakes her head. "I don't expect anyone to," she says. But then she suddenly realizes that's not true. "The Blue Fairy!" she whispers, and Robin stares at her. "She's the one who turned him into a cricket in the first place," she explains. "She might be able to undo it … only I don't know where she is."

Robin nods, but he seems at a loss for what to say. "I hope you find her," he says at last.

Ruby nods. "Me too." She leaves the conversation feeling both elated and beaten down. She's almost sure the Blue Fairy could help, but she isn't with their group. And with people returning from Storybrooke to the Enchanted Forest in random spurts and clusters, there's no telling when the Blue Fairy will appear or where. And what if she's wrong, what if the Blue Fairy can't help after all? What would she do then?

Granny fusses over her when she returns to their camp site, and Ruby does her best to ignore her and Jiminy's chirps and buzzing. It's been a long, exhausting day, and while being able to finally let her frustration lose had helped, it also wore her out even more. She sets up her cot and settles in for an early sleep, hoping tomorrow will look a little brighter.

* * *

Her mind must have been working while she slept because when she wakes, she decides she needs to be more productive and less mopey. Jiminy had fallen asleep on a rock next to her cot, and while last night she'd been irritated with his constant insistence on being near her, this morning she feels guilty about it. They might be separated from each other in form, but at least they are together. It's more than Snow and Charming can say about Emma, and more than Belle and Neal can say about Rumpelstiltskin. She and Archie are lucky, and she knows she should do her best to keep that in mind.

"I'm sorry," she tells him, offering her hand for him to climb on to and lifting him up to her face. "This is hard for me."

He chirps and raises an arm – or at least what she thinks of as an arm – and she imagines he's telling her it's hard for him too.

Suddenly she realizes she's been incredibly selfish. She hadn't paused to think of how he must be feeling, to be trapped in another body and unable to reach the woman he loves. He had to be feeling much the same as she, and she'd spent the entire day trying to get away from him! She could only imagine the pain she's caused him, and she wants to kick herself.

"We'll figure this out," she promises him. "Somehow."

He chirps again, more enthusiastically this time, which she takes to mean he's in agreement with her. She raises him to her shoulder where she gives him a moment to get comfortable before moving from the cot in search of breakfast. She partakes in a bowl of gruel provided by Robin's men while Jiminy sits on her knee and munches on a leaf. She supposes there is a way for them to share meals in some sense, at least.

With the barrier to the castle gone – Robin and Regina having lowered it the night before - the group is able to finish their journey. The walk is easier for her this time than it was the day before as her mind is focused on possible solutions to her and Archie's dilemma. At first, she tries discussing her thoughts with him, but she can't understand his chirping. And after several failed attempts, they soon realize any kind of lengthy conversation is impossible and they eventually fall silent, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Ruby keeps thinking of the pendant Jiminy had once worn that had translated his cricket speech into English. The Blue Fairy had enchanted it for him, and Ruby is sure that with that pendant and the ability to actually communicate with Archie, things would be much easier for the two of them. But the last she'd seen of the pendant was when he'd been wearing it at Snow and Charming's castle, and their group isn't headed that way. Even if they were, there's no telling if the pendant had survived the destruction of the curse.

And even if they did find the pendant and it was intact, she isn't sure it would solve all their problems. Any physical aspect to their relationship seems impossible unless the Blue Fairy can turn Archie back into a human. And there's still no telling where the Blue Fairy could be.

Still she has something to hold on to, some hope to get her through. And if Belle and Neal can appear cheerful at times, so can she. Somehow, she feels she'll be able to pick up the pieces.

But as they arrive at the castle and settle in, and Belle and Neal became distant from everyone else, obsessed with a quest no one thinks is possible. Ruby too, becomes distant. She's determined to find something to help her and Archie. Every night, she walks out into the woods and calls for the Blue Fairy, though she never receives a reply. During the day, she searches the library with Belle, though the two of them speak little to each other as their respective searches involve different things.

Companionship seems short in general - from Archie, from Belle, even Snow - and she knows its partially her fault for being so obsessed with finding a solution. Even so, she can focus on little else. She needs to find some way to ease this pain she feels. And then, one afternoon, as she passes Regina in the hall and thinks yet again that the look on her face compares so well with the way she feels inside, she gets the idea to sneak a look at the Queen's spell book. She's almost certain she might find something in there that can aid her, and eventually she finds the opportunity. Jiminy, however, protests, landing on the book's open pages and chirping loudly.

"I'm trying to help you!" Ruby hisses, though at a whisper because she's worried about who might catch her.

Jiminy chirps loudly again, as though to tell her this isn't the way to do it, though she can't be sure.

Irritated, she puts the book back in the position she'd found it in and walks away. Jiminy buzzes near her head and she shoos him with her hand. "Go away!" she snaps.

She doesn't really mean it, but she's hurting and can't help how the words come out. She's trying so hard to find a solution and at every turn she feels blocked. The thought that he would block her himself just frustrates her further. Jiminy's limbs droop in defeat and he flies away.

He brings her a flower at dinner, carried to her by his feet as he flies it over to where she sits, and she can't help it as the tears come to her eyes. She has to remind herself that this is hard on him too. She often forgets since he can't actually tell her.

They are both trying to make things work, but sometimes it feels like they are drowning. There are moments like with the flower when Ruby is so thankful for the little things they have, the little ways that they feel connected. And then there are times, like with the spell book, where she feels they are against each other and they both grow frustrated. It always ends with one of them walking away, and it isn't always her.

"Maybe you and Archie should just let things go," says Snow to her one evening after she and Jiminy separate after another fight.

This time, she isn't sure what their fight had been over. Jiminy had tried to tell her something, chirping at her. And when she told him she didn't understand, they'd gone into lengthy rounds of charades, both of them growing more and more frustrated as time went on. When Ruby still didn't get it, he'd flown off, seemingly dejected. She still had no idea what he'd been trying to tell her or even if it had been important.

"'Let things go'?" she repeats as though she doesn't understand the words.

"You can't keep going on like this," says Snow gently. "And without a Storybrooke to go back to..."

"The Blue Fairy is out there somewhere," Ruby tells her. "All we have to do is find her, and–"

"She might not be able to help," Snow points out. "And if she can't … can you really be happy with him as cricket?"

Ruby stares at her, Snow's words finally making sense. "You're saying we should just give up?"

"It might be for the best," says Snow apologetically.

But Ruby feels more irritated than encouraged. "This coming from half of the couple whose mantra is that they'll always find each other?"

"Red," tries Snow. "It might not be possible–"

"Just like it wasn't possible for you to still be alive after you ate that poisoned apple?" Ruby responded. "Just like it wasn't possible for Charming to find you after you and Emma fell through that portal into what was assumed to be a crushing abyss?"

Snow grimaces. "I'm just trying to help."

"Thanks for the advice," Ruby snaps. And she spins on her heel and stalks off. She's been doing that a lot lately. And while, in the moment, it always seems like a good idea, later, she often feels irritated for resorting to such tactics.

But she eventually comes to admit that Snow has a point. The little moments between her and Jiminy, however special, just aren't enough. She needs companionship from him – real, human companionship that as a cricket he just can't provide. He's constantly with her, always riding her shoulder. But it isn't the same as when they'd been able to walk side by side and hand in hand. At night, he sleeps on a leaf on her nightstand. But it doesn't compare to when they'd shared a bed together. He's constantly near her, but she doesn't often feel like he's actually _with _her.

When it comes to communication, she always has to guess at what he's trying to tell her without ever truly knowing for sure if she's right or wrong or even if she got close. With their interactions, she always has to be conscious of how much bigger than him she is and of the fact that she could actually hurt him if she isn't careful. The truth, and it hurts, is that he's more like an unwanted shadow to her at the worst of times or an affectionate pet in the best of them. She can imagine him as a friend … let alone a boyfriend.

Snow's right, they can't keep going on like this. But she can't give up either. There's too much they haven't tried. And as Belle and Neal announce to Snow and Charming that they are leaving on a journey to look for Rumple's dagger, Ruby has an announcement of her own. She's going to Snow and Charming's previous palace in the hopes that she can find Jiminy's pendant and just maybe save her and Archie's relationship.


	3. Chapter Three

Snow and Charming protest, of course. They say the journey is too dangerous. The wicked witch and flying monkeys are still out there, and the castle itself poses its own risks since it sits in ruins. But Ruby insists that she's going, and in turn Charming insists he's going with her. But Ruby argues that he needs to stay with Snow. There's still much to do around the castle. The people need both their leaders. It wouldn't be right for him to leave and place himself in danger. He tells her he can't let her place herself in danger either.

They go in circles until Robin Hood overhears and offers his services. Ruby doesn't want him coming until she realizes there's no way Snow and Charming will let her get out of it, so he comes along. The journey is relatively uneventful, and they arrive at the castle with running into only one flying monkey, which Robin swiftly takes care of.

"What is it exactly that we are looking for?" asks Robin as they enter the ruined palace.

Ruby describes the pendant to the best of her recollection. It's gold, flat, and round with some kind of intricate design, and it's relatively small. Jiminy chimes in, perhaps to add more description or to tell her she has some detail wrong. She looks at him exasperatedly because neither she nor Robin can understand what he's trying to say. Jiminy stops in his chirping and pouts. She has to remind herself that it must be hard for him to remain silent, constantly wishing to communicate with those he can't.

They split up with Jiminy going one way and her another, while Robin starts at the door and promises to work his way up. Ruby goes to the last place she remembers being before the curse came and works her way backward. The pendant could be anywhere, and the castle is covered in debris. She quickly grows frustrated, feeling that there's no way they'll find such a tiny thing in all this mess.

Their search goes till it's nearly nightfall, and Ruby has just resigned herself to spending as many nights in the castle as it takes to find the blasted thing when Robin approaches her.

"Is this it?" he asks, and her heart leaps as she sees the tiny golden chain that's slipped through his fingers.

But her spirits plummet as she takes the pendant from him and realizes it's broken. Only half of the golden circle remains.

"I looked all over for the other half," Robin tells her apologetically. "But I couldn't find anything."

"Are you sure?" she asks desperately.

He nods. "I found the pendant hours ago. I didn't say anything because I was hoping…"

Ruby feels her heart breaking. Her shoulders shake, and she turns away as Robin takes a step forward in an offer to comfort her. But it's not his comfort she wants.

She clutches the pendant so tightly in her hand that she cuts herself with the jagged edge. Hot tears come to her eyes. This had been her only hope besides finding the Blue Fairy, and now that hope was shattered. Part of her doesn't want to tell Jiminy, but she knows she'll have to eventually.

She goes out into the hall and calls for him. At length, she hears the buzz of his wings. He flies to her, and she can't tell if he's excited or hopeful or apprehensive. But she holds up the pendant to him, the broken piece clutched between her thumb and finger while the chain dangles underneath. Jiminy's antennae droop.

But then he's chirping at Robin, gesturing wildly.

"I think," says Robin slowly. "He wants me to show him where I found it?"

Ruby shrugs. His guess is as good as hers.

Robin takes them down a couple floors to a room Ruby has trouble placing. There's so much destruction that nothing in the castle looks as it should. And though she had once known the hallways and rooms by heart, this wouldn't be the first time today when she's found herself unable to tell where she is.

Jiminy flits frantically through the rubble, and Ruby can't bear to watch him. She leans against the wall in the hallway and puts her face in her hands, knowing it's hopeless. She wonders if Snow and Charming ever felt like this – like everything is lost. It certainly didn't sound like something true love was supposed to experience. And though she knows she and Archie have such love … she's been engulfed in so much doubt lately she wonders if true love can fade or vanish. It doesn't feel like love right now. It just feels like a battle they are constantly losing.

Jiminy doesn't seem to want to give up the search, but night falls swiftly and it soon grows too dark to see anything. He and Ruby head outside the castle where Robin is roasting two rabbits he caught over a fire. Ruby has some pieces of dried fruit she gives to Jiminy. The three of them eat the meal in silence.

Ruby is feeling particularly down. She knows they'll return to Regina's castle tomorrow, and she hadn't planned on coming back empty handed. She can only hope Neal and Belle fair better than her.

Once the meal is over, she scopes Jiminy up in her hand and places him on her shoulder in a motion that has become such common practice she hardly thinks about it anymore. Then she walks out into the woods until she finds a small clearing. She looks out to the brightest star and calls for the Blue Fairy.

She doesn't expect anything to happen. She's done this so often without any kind of result that when the star seems to wink at her, she's certain she's imagined it. But then it winks again, and something seems to fall from it. That tiny blue something grows until she can see the outline of tiny wings, and she knows it's the Blue Fairy coming toward them.

"Hello, Red," she says smiling when she finally settles in front of them.

Ruby is in such disbelief that she doesn't speak right away. Jiminy must be feeling the same because no noise comes from him either. Eventually, she holds out the pendant she had placed in her pocket. "Can you fix it?"

Blue studies it for a moment and then shakes her head. "The enchantment, though simple, was not easy to come by," she tells them. "Even if you were to find the missing half, the most I could do would be to put it back together. But the enchantment would still be lost."

Ruby feels her heart breaking again. But her last hope remains, and she raises her hand to her shoulder so that Jiminy can walk onto her fingers. "Can you help us?" she asks, holding Jiminy out in front of her.

The Blue Fairy looks down on Jiminy who chirps for a long minute.

"What did he say?" Ruby asks, certain that of all people the Blue Fairy would be able to understand him.

"He said that being trapped in this form and unable to be with you is like a curse."

She feels something like relief pass through her. It's rejuvenating for her to know they are in fact on the same page, that she hasn't been going through this on her own. She'd known it before, of course – had struggled to remind herself of it every day - but somehow hearing the words means so much more than just knowing. "Can you take the spell off him?"

Blue again shakes her head. "What was given to him was a blessing, and those can only be bestowed, not taken away."

Ruby feels she might break down in tears, but her hope isn't completely extinguished. "Then, what can we do?"

Blue thinks for a minute. "If what was once bestowed has truly become a curse, then the answer is very, very simple."

She looks at the cricket perched on her hand. She knows the answer, of course. Being Snow's friend, how could she not? "True Love's Kiss?" she asks.

Blue nods.

She analyzes the tiny Archie on her hand. "Can crickets even…?"

Jiminy chirps, showing her he does in fact have a mouth.

It's worth a try, of course. Why not? But she suddenly feels uncertain. Maybe it's the fact that nothing else has worked, but doubts fill her mind at this final solution. What if they can't "kiss" properly? Or what if they can and nothing happens? What if, despite of what he said, Archie doesn't really want to change from being Jiminy?

She'd lost the wolf part of herself, and that had been hard, especially since it hadn't been by choice. Even though she'd told him she would have given it up of her will, she knew the decision wouldn't have been easy. And when the two of them had discussed it later, he'd told her that he sometimes missed being Jiminy Cricket. What if that small part of him, the part that wanted to be Jiminy, was enough to mean their "curse" couldn't be broken? What would they do then? We're they doomed to this kind of half relationship of always being present but never really together?

She raises him toward her lips as the fear that this isn't going to work grows stronger. She doesn't know what she'll do if Jiminy can't become Archie again. They'd try, of course, just like they'd been trying. But if Snow was right, if one or both of them came to the realization that they just couldn't carry on like this…

Ruby doesn't want to think about it. Leaving was never an option before, and it isn't one now. Determination takes over the doubt as she tells herself that whatever happens, she's not going to give up. She will keep trying, no matter how hard it gets. Because even when she finds herself at her lowest point, she knows their love is worth fighting for and there's no way she'd ever turn from it.

Feeling more confident, she closes her eyes and puckers her lips, waiting for the tiny cricket to move toward her. At first, nothing happens. And then, with a shock that nearly sends her tripping over herself, she feels full, human lips pressing against hers and arms reaching out to envelop her.

She opens her eyes to see the man she loves standing before her, and she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. In fact, she does both. "Oh, Archie!" She throws her arms around him and sobs with joy and relief into his shoulder. It's the most wonderful feeling as he just stands and holds her and strokes her hair.

Eventually, she pulls back and looks at him and she suddenly feels terrible for how horribly she's treated him these past months. "I'm so sorry," she tells him.

But he shakes his head and places a hand on the side of her face. Later he'll tell her he feels he treated her horribly as well and the two of them will discuss what they could have done better, but for now he simply says, "It doesn't matter." She barely has time to register how wonderful it is to hear his voice before he kisses her again.

It's been so long that she's reluctant to part from him, but at some point they remember the Blue Fairy is still with them.

"Thank you," Archie says, as he turns toward Blue and places an arm around Ruby.

Blue laughs. "I did nothing. It was all you two. Be good to each other," she adds as she moves to depart from them. "And never forget the strength of your love."

After she's gone, they don't head back to the campfire right away. Instead, they steal a several more much need kisses in the privacy of their little clearing. When they finally do make the walk back, Robin has the largest look of amazement on his face.

"It's good to finally meet you," he says, holding out a hand to Archie. "In human form," he adds.

"Likewise," says Archie with a laugh as he takes Robin's hand.

Robin looks to Red. "How did you …?"

"True Love's Kiss," she says with a wide grin, elated now that all the doubt and frustration that's plagued her has lifted.

"It-it's kind of amazing," Archie adds, smiling at her.


	4. Epilogue

Night has long since fallen in Storybrooke. He and Ruby are walking down from the woods toward Granny's where everyone has gathered to celebrate the birth of Snow and Charming's son. It's a long walk, but the two of them hardly speak, mostly because he's lost in his own thoughts.

"You've been awfully quiet," she says as they enter the edge of downtown.

"Yeah," he tells her. "I've just … been thinking."

"About what?" she asks.

He sighs, and doesn't answer right away. He had just finished officiating Gold and Belle's wedding, and he can't get it out of his mind. It had been tiny and beautiful. He'd been to many weddings – Snow and Charming's had been especially grand. But this one stood out in the simplicity of it, with just two people coming together and professing their undying love despite the many obstacles they had overcome and would continue to face.

It made him think of him and Ruby in a way. The road hadn't always been easy. They'd struggled against outside forces and fought against each other, but they had never given up on being together. However difficult things might have gotten, however hopeless they may have felt, going their separate ways was never an option. And Archie realizes what he's always known – that he isn't going anywhere, and neither is she.

The decision comes to him in that moment, and he doesn't even need to think it over. He already knows.

He pauses in his steps and turns to her so they are face to face. Then he takes her hands in his. "I'm afraid I'm terribly unprepared for this." He hadn't planned it, but it feels right. And he sees no point in putting it off.

He takes a deep breath and gets down on one knee, dropping one of her hands. "Ruby," he says, and he realizes his voice is shaking. He hopes it's too subtle for her to notice. "Will you marry me?"

She's overcome, bringing her free hand to her mouth to stifle the half sob, half laugh that emerges. Tears come to her eyes, and she takes her own deep breath. "Of course, I will," she tells him. "Yes."

He smiles, then stands and pulls her to him as he kisses her. He doesn't have a ring, but it doesn't matter. He will get her one eventually, but it's not the priority now. Eventually, they pull away from each other and continue their walk, standing closer than they had before and holding hands more tightly.

At last, they come it to Granny's where the celebration is happening, and they make the decision not to tell anyone. They don't want to steal the attention. But they agree Granny should know, and then Granny tells Snow, and then Snow insists the celebration of their son's birth is about family and love, and how could their engagement not fit within that? So then the whole town knows. And the night is one continuous emotional ride of joy and laughter until its well into the morning and they both return home completely exhausted.

Later, he takes what's left of the pendant he'd worn as Jiminy that had somehow managed to cross over with him and has it melted down to form the band of her ring. And afterward, whenever he holds her hand and his fingers brush against that materialized promise, he finds himself reminded that their love is true and can overcome anything.

* * *

END

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: When I finished writing "Our Inner Demons," I found myself wanting more for the story. I just wasn't happy with where it ended. I had the last two chapters written long before I actually posted them. And the reason it took me so long was because I kept hoping to be struck with some idea to keep the story going. This is the answer I was looking for, this is the "more" I had wanted. I just needed Season 3 to end before it came to me.

There's a lot more I could have done with this particular story - expanding on the falls and triumphs of Jiminy and Red's relationship - and I did consider it. But I really just wanted to write something short and sweet that continued what had already been established in "Our Inner Demons." So, if you are looking for more and haven't read it, I suggest checking that story out. Otherwise, we'll have to see if Season 4 sparks any new ideas.

As always, thanks for reading!


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